He did not plan for a long-term occupation of the South, and he failed to see at least one important effect of the blockade. The Southern press understood this immediately and happily ridiculed the plan. Northern editors, meanwhile, sarcastically dubbed it the Anaconda Plan, after the snake that slowly squeezes its prey to death.
The imperative of was action, and any plan that did not immediately strike at Richmond was unwelcome. Of course, Scott did call for a massive attack on the Confederacy, with anywhere from 60, to 80, men in the Mississippi River Valley. But he recognized how critical it was to train those men, while Washington politicians preferred to fight sooner and closer to home.
The same was true in Richmond. Night after night has this comforting assurance been carried us on the wings of lightnings, until people have lost faith in electricity, and pronounce its statements unmitigated falsehoods.
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, and the country impatiently demands to know the reason for the procrastination. It was a disaster for the Union. Encyclopedia Virginia Grady Ave. Virginia Humanities acknowledges the Monacan Nation , the original people of the land and waters of our home in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Learn more about the soldiers of the Civil War. In April and early-May of , Scott proposed the plan that was not only the way to win the war, but also a prediction of how the fight would play out. Winning the war needed much time, and Scott made intelligent and realistic decisions, considering the time factor. He had learned a lot from his military experience, and he used it all in establishing this plan and explaining it to Lincoln and his government.
It began with a powerful move down the Mississippi River to dominate it and eventually split the Confederacy into two parts. The next step was blocking the coastline. The coast had strategic and financial importance for the Confederates. They shipped in the necessary material and exported cotton to get the money for buying the essential equipment from abroad. Without the port, the Confederacy would not have much chance of winning the war.
If attacking and dominating Mississippi and the port blockade were not enough, the North would invade Richmond. The last step was two to three years away from the first step and needed , soldiers, as Scott put it. Back then, the United States Army had about 15, men. The North was impressed by Scott and his plan, so they were writing about him.
People could read about how the plan was being developed in newspapers. But they were still waiting to see how the North took action. Learn more about the crisis at Fort Sumter.
The plan was an amazingly realistic war masterpiece, but the public did not always like the reality. Lincoln was the non-military president of a non-military nation.
So why did Scott want to invade the same Richmond in three years? The desire to reach Richmond as quickly as possible persisted throughout the war. The same Northern tendency put Virginia, Richmond and the Eastern Theater in the spotlight of the war for many of the future battles. The strip of ground between the Potomac River and the James River was where most of the battles took place. Scott and other military figures knew well how long it took to train, prepare, and expand the army.
It was important because the strategic plan would have eventually ended the Civil War, ideally with minimal casualties on both sides. It was a humanitarian way of defeating the rebellion as opposed to invading the south with massive numbers of troops, killing, burning and capturing everything in sight. His problem was convincing fellow Union commanders that this was a good idea. Pretty much all of the Union commanders disliked this plan and referred to it as being too complacent.
The other generals wanted to crush the rebellion quickly and permanently as soon as possible. Complacent or not, the plan, if allowed full implementation and support from Northern military commanders would have saved many lives.
Theoretically if the plan was implemented at the start of the war the giant battles fought later in the war may never have happened. The south would have been slowly deprived of food and supplies by the Union blockade. Union armies would have taken up defensive positions in the North repelling any Confederate attacks. The Union would have slowly and methodically cut the Confederacy in half by taking the Mississippi river and the rebellion would have withered on the vine from a lack of food and supplies and forced to surrender.
Blockading all southern ports would cut off all trade to and from the rebellious states which would eventually cripple their economy.
The second objective of the plan was to transport roughly 60, Union troops in 40 steam transports escorted by upwards of 20 steam gunboats down the Mississippi river. Union troops would capture and hold forts and towns all along the Mississippi. After these forts and towns along the Mississippi were captured, reinforcements would be sent to fortify and secure these areas. Troops would secure the Mississippi river down to the Gulf of Mexico which would link up with and keep their lines of communication open with the ongoing naval blockade.
The federal troops along the Mississippi river would be in a strong defensive position which would make it impossible for any Confederate forces to defeat them. Capturing the Mississippi river would cut the Confederacy in half. Along with the naval blockade the Confederacy would be completely surrounded and cut off.
It would not be a quick victory but given enough time it had a chance of being successful. This was a good plan but it was never given the opportunity to be put into action. General George McClellan had a different idea and came up with his own plan.
0コメント